I 


V As  ttife  result  of  the  cut 
fiia'de  by'  the  city  council  in 
the  1917  library  budget,  the 
Tacoma  librai'y  boai'd  Friday 
solved  its  retrenchment  pi-ob- 
lem  by  unanimously  voting  to 
close  botli  the  South  Taconia 
and  McKinley  Hill  brajiclies 
for  one  year  beginning  Jan.  1. 
The  board  decided  to  .operate 
only  the  main  building  at  12th 
and  Tacoma  av.,  such  scattered 
delivery  stations  in  the  outlying 
districts  as  are  willinig  to  circu- 
late books  at  their  own  expense, 
and  the  station  In  Rhodes  Broth- 
ers’ store. 

Store  to  Pay  .$1,000 
The  Rhodes  Brothers’  station, 
however,  will  be  financed  entirely 
at  the  store’s  expense^. $1,060  hav- 
ing been  promis( 
ance,.  the,  librarj 
ue  complete  CO 
The  cut  .mA^e 

cil  amounted  to  

Since  October  the%D’»lt^  has  had 
a committee,  consistin^^of 'Bishop 
F.  W.  Keator,  SuperihWndent  of 
Schools  W.  F.  Geiger  ^d  Harry 
E.  O’Neil,  at  work  stucfjnng  vari- 
ous plans  for  retrenchmeat 
The  action  taken  Frld-  ' \\'as  on 
the  recommendation  of  u ' - . 

mittee. 

Call  In  V.  W.  Expert 

The  committee  made  a detailed 


mainten 
n- 

(ioun- 

k 


cost-  -anaJjfcis  of  six  alternative 
plans  for  ^'9l^,»assisted  ky  ProJ. 
W.  E.  He«W,, director  of  fho  JJni- 
versity  of,l^§hlngton  library  and 
library  school,  .who  was  called  in 
at  the  .suggestion  of  - Librarian 
Kaiser  and  offered  his-  services 
free  in  mal^ngi  a detailed  survey. 

As  the  result*  pf  his  survey, 
Henry,  in  his  repbrt  to  the  board, 
declared  that  none  of  the  branches 
could  bo  maintained  even  on  part 
time  schedule,  and' that  no  alter- 
native was  possible.  • *»» 

Compliments  Library 
He  also  declared  that  the 
coma  library  has  beeri  ren^et^A 
far  more  service  theen  -almos^rtca^ 
other  similar  lijrafy  In  the.  ccJhh- 
try  at  a cost  fter  nersQ.^;  served  and' 
per  volunieJWftolated  far  bfetoS# 
the  average.  ^ • *“  - 

In  other  concluded 

that  the  library  was* offering  a 
degree  of  service  ^o.  the  public 
which  was  all  out. of 'proportion  to 
the  amount  .of  funds  provided  by 
the  people  of  the  city  for  Its  main- 
tenance. 

The  retrenchiment  plans  will  call 
for  a nine  uer.eent.  cut  in  •”  - sal- 
ary roll. 

K^ads  tn  Como  Off 

"•  set  as  the  date 

for  announcing  which  members  of 
the  library  staff  will  he  released. 

The  board  agreed  that  only  the 


mo^k  capable  and  efficient  em-' 
liJoyes  would  be'  retained  to  serve 
t8e  Batfons  of  the  main  library. 

.The-fboa-rd’s  action  mean^-  ^iat 
tt^e  'fSllowing  outlying  - d^ 
stations  will  b6'  Ketai.ned,..asr  TO’e'y 
have'  agreed  to'  ke^'p  the  books 
circulated*  .at,  iio'iexpense  to  the 
board.: . 

^;iLef  t 

Fern  lHl^'rafeth'i^5fei=n'Hill  post- 

off  fbe^oT  - 

■.-•ifc"  Dunn’s  Grocery, 
»j|*is’on  streets. 

jib(rtoi*f*'ht  ^TBenatt’s  Grocery, 
STtfe^Adf  Pm^.pT. 
a e'C';  f h e r s . 

t.<fei^t''-Add.i^Gn,  at  Dague  Drug 
C^^'SovitH*  SStli  and  Yakima. 

iKi'e  Roosevelt,  Larclimont  and 
cS?iter  stations  will  be  abolished. 


Delegation  Appears, 

A delegation  from  the  IMcKin-  * 
ley  Hill  branch  appeared  before , 
the  board  before  final  action  was  ^ 
taken  and  made  a plea  for  the : 
continuance  of  the  library  there.  I 
They  were  told  that  the  only  . 
possible  way  to  continue  would 
be  for  some  store  in  the  neighbor- 
hood to  offer  to  distribute  the 
books  free  of  cost. 

Librarian  Kaiser  announced 
that  various  economies  had  al- 
ready been  put  into  practice  and 
that  many  more  were  under  way. 


A MISFORTUNE 

' The  anuoiineement  that  the  branch  Tacoma 
libraries  are  to  be  abolished  has  awakened  some 
of  us  with  a start. 

‘ We  have  received  a jolt  that  will  not  let  us  fall 
off  in  a doze  again  for  some  time. 

Certainly  Tacoma  folks  are  not  feeling  any, 
sense  of  pride  today  in  having  the  news  go  out  to 
the  rest  of  the  country  that  the  city  is  cutting  out 
its  libraries. 

We  have  to  be  hit  with  a jolt  like  this  to  realize 
that  our  libraries  are  nearly,  if  not  quite,  as  im- 
portant as  our  schools  in  the  healthy,  intelligent 
progress  of  the  city. 

Perhaps  our  city  fathers  didn’t  realize  what 
they  were  doing  when  they  chopped  such  a hole 
in  the  vitals  of  the  citj^  Perhaps  they  did  their 
best  in  a difficult  situation. 

We  might  have  no  regrets  if  the  library  board 
had  been  extravagant,  or  if  the  institution  had 
been  developed  out  of  proportion  to  the  growth  of 
the  city. 

But  we  have  the  word  of  an  expert  such  as 
Prof.  Henry  of  the  University  of  Washington 
library,  that  the  Tacoma  library,  with  its  branches, 
has  been  rendering  far  more  service  to  the  people, 
with  less  money  to  do  it  on,  than  any  other  similar 
library  in  the  country. 

The  library  board  is  not  to  blame  for  the  pres- 
ent misfortune — for  misfortune  it  is. 

It  is  up  to  the  people  of  South  Tacoma  and  Mc- 
I Kinley  hill  now — in  fact  it  is  up  to  all  the  people 
I of  the  city — ^to  create  a sentiment  so  strong  that  it 
1 will  be  impossible,  when  the  next  budget  is  drawn, 

' to  leave  our  library  stranded — a cripple. 

With  our  books  taken  out  of  our  reach,  it  is  just 
like  a neighborhood  after  our  best  friends  have 
left  it. 


TELLS  WHY  LIBRARY 
CUT  IS  NECESSARY 


Bishop  Keator,  President  of  Board,  in  Statement 
Points  to  Ne  cessity  of 


Retrenchment 


That  the  Tacoma  public  library  If 
grlving-  better  service  than  the  funds  at 
its  disposal  warrant  and  that  retrench- 
ment is  an  absolute  necessity,  are  the 
outstanding:  features  of  a statement 
given  out  Saturday  by  Bishop  Frederic) 
W.  Keator.  president  of  the  library! 
board.  Bishop  Keator’s  statement  in'j 
eludes  a report  made  by  Professor  Wl 
E.  Henry  of  the  State  university 
library,  who  has  made  a careful  study] 
of  conditions  in  Tacoma.  The  state-, 
ment  gives  a full  explanation  of  thej 
reasons  for  the  board's  decision  toj 
eliminate  the  McKinley  Hill  and  South! 
Tacoma  branch  stations.  I 

The  statement  follows:  1 

We  are  at  a most  critical  stage  In' 
the  history  of  the  Tacoma  Public  Li- 
brary and  the  library  board,  believing., 
that  a public  office  is  a public  trust l 
which  should  be  reported  on,  wishes  I 
the  citizens  of  Tacoma  to  understand 
the  situation  fully. 

The  library  budget  for  1917  allowed 
by  .the  city  council  was  18%  belov/  that 
of  191G.  For  the  five  or  «ix  week." 
since  this  became  known  to  the  board 
the  librarian  and  the  library  staff 
have  been  making  a thorough  study  of 
the  1917  retrenchment  problem. 

In  reporting  thus  publicly  on  our 
study  and  conclusions  we  do  not  mean 
to  direct  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
library  was  cut  far  more,  proportion- 
ately, than  any  other  city  department 
except  the  civil  service  board,  without 
any  apparent  investigation  on  the 
part  of  the  council  of  the  quantity  or 
■quality  of  the  work  done  by  the  li- 
brary. It  is  merely  our  business  to  ' 
give  the  best  service  possible  on  the 
funds  allowed  us. 

An  efficiency  survey  of  our  work 
was  the  most  natural  and  effective  ; 
method  of  ascertaining  the  facts  and 
the  data  required  as  the  basis  for  solv- 
ing our  problem.  Such  a survey  has  ■ 
been  made  by  a special  committee  of  ’ 
the  board,  the  librarian  and  the  head? 
of  departments.  In  addition,  the  li- 
brarian, Mr.  Kaiser,  suggested  that  an 
outside  library  efficiency  expert  be 
called  in  to  give  his  candid  opinion  on 
the  situation  after  an  independent  in- 
vestigation, and  the  library  board  in- 
vited Professor  W.  E.  Henry,  director 
of  the  State  University  library  and  its 
library  school,  to  make  such  an  in- 
vestigation. 

This  has  been  done  and  Professor 
Henry’s  report  in  full  is  given  a little 
.later. 


The  budget  committee  of  the  board' 
considered  eight  alternative  proposals 
for  1917  and  made  a cost  analysis  of 
each.  They  were: 

1.  Open  the  main  library  only. 

2.  Open  main  library  and  Rhodes 
station  at  Rhodes’  expense. 

3.  Open  main  library  and  outlyi-ng 
delivery  stations  (without  paying  for 
serves). 

4.  Open  main  library,  Rhodes  sta-  ( 
tlou  at  Rhodes’  expense  and  stations  i 
(no  pay). 

5.  Open  main  library,  Soiith  Taco-  '( 
ma  branch  one-half  schedule  and 
Rhodes  station  at  Rhodes’  expense. 

G.  Open  main  library,  McKinley  Hill 
branch  on  one-half  schedule,  and 
Rhodes  station  at  Rhodes’  expense.  j 

7.  Open  main  library  and  .South  Ta- 
coma branch  half  time.  ' 

8.  Open  main  library  and  McKinley 

Hill  branch  half  time.  ; 

A comparative  statement  of  the  cost 
• ■f  these  various  plans  is  given  below, 
and  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  in 
addition  to  salaries,  books,  binding  i 
an  I periodical.^,  the  expenses  for  the  ■ 
maintenance  of  the  library  and  its  , 
■ir  es  Include  light,  water,  fuel,  I 
ne,  building  repalr.s,  furniture, 
ent  repair  and  a great  quantity 
mical.  office  and  janitor  sup- 

i 

E.vpensc  EKti!nnic.s 

1 $.30,871 

■>  30,49,3 

n H .31,533 

I'lan  4 31,582 

Plan  5 32,614 

Plan  6 32,034  i 

• Plan  7 32,754 

Plan  8 32,024 

The  appropriation. for  the  library  for 
1917  is  $30,046.40.  Additional  income  ! 
from  fines,  etc.,  may  make  the  avail- 
able funds  ar.  much  as  $31,300.  j 

It  was  the  opinion  of  the  commit-  ; 
tee  that  the  board  should  operMe  the! 
main  library  efficiently,  if  po.ssible,  j 
thus  providing  one  central  place  where 
good  library  service  would  be  render-  ’ 
ed.  and  operate  in  addition  only  such  j 
agencies  for  book  distribution  as  could 
be  effectively  managed  with  the  re- 
mainder of  the  library  fund.  .i 

From  the  data,  in  the  hands  of  the 
eommittee  it  was  apparent  that  the 
board  could  not  operate  either  of  the  j 
branch  libraries,  even  part  time,  dur-  j 
ing  next  year,  and  at  the  same  time  [ 
keep  the  main  library  open  as  at  pres- 
ent. I 


It  was  then  voted  that  the  com-  j 
mittec  recommend  to  the  library  board  . 
that  it  adopt  Plan  4,  providing  for  the 
opening  of  the  main  library,  the  sta- 
1 ion  at  Rhodes  Brothers  at  Rhodes 
Brothers’  expense,  and  such  of  the  de-  I 
livery  stations  as  can  be  operated  , 
without  compensation  to  the  proprie- 
tor of  the  store  in  which  placed.  This 
plan  the  library  board  adopted  unani- 
mously at  its  meeting  Friday,  Novem-  ; 

bev  24.  * 

It  seems  fitting  here  to  insert  Pro-  ' 
fessor  Henry’s  report.  Professor  Hen-  1 
ry  was  a.sked  to  give  especial  atten-  ; 
tion  to  the  question  of  the  proportion  i 
of  the  salary  roll  to  the  total  expense  i 
of  the  library,  the  individual  salaries  j 
paid,  the  quantity  and  quality  of  work  j 
:donc.  and  the  principles  of  retrench-  ^ 
ment  to  be  applied: 

Peport.  with  recommendations,  upon 
a brief  investigation  of  the  expendi- 
ture, equipment  and  service  of  the  Ta- 
coma Public  Library  : 


1.  FACTS. 

1 Tour  total  salaries  are  out  of 
proportion  to  your  total  Income  as 
mea.sured  by  the  average  of  cities  and 
libraries  of  approximately  the  .same 
size  distributed  over  the  country. 

2 Your  individual  salaries  are  not  j 
too  high  in  any  case  and  some  of  them  j 
are  too  low  as  measured  by  the  ser- 
vice rendered  or  by  the  demands  of 
living  expenses. 

3 Tour  expenditure  for  equipment, 
i.  e.  book.s,  periodicals  and  binding,  is 
below  the  average  per  cent  expended 


4  Your  circulation  is  larpror  than 
not  only  the  average  of  similar  cities, 
but  in  excess  of  most  as  measured  b.v 
size  of  library,  size  of  staff,  or  amount 
of  total  income.  , . ^ . 

o.  Your  equipment  is  deteriorating 
while  tiie  use  of  it  is  growing. 

6.  Tour  staff  is  rendering  excellent 
service  for  the  salaries  p.Tld  and  for 
the  equipment  provided, 

7.  Your  city  is  not  adequately  pay- 
ing for  the  service  it  is  receiving  and 
it  is  paying  much  less  per  capita  for 
library  purposes  than  is  being  paid  in 
other  cities  witli  whieh  It  would  be 
willing  to  be  compared. 

s.  Of  both  your  staff  and  your 
cquipmeni  you  iire  giving  of  your  sub- 
stance to  feed  the  poor. 


II.  CO.MMEXT 


1 have  made  a comparative  .study  of 
the  equipment  and  .service  of  the  Ta- 
coma Public  Library  with  the  same 


1 


of  is  other  public  lIbJ-*ries 
J or  about  the  same  size  and  conditions 
r well  distributed  over  the  United  States 
and  find  two  fundamenta’  difficulties, 
eac.h  to  a deerree  exp.  > ing  and  re- 
inforcing: the  other. 

1.  That  the  proportion  of  the  entire 
expenditure  which  is  given  to  .str  ff 
salaries  averages  46  per  cent  in  th 
libraries,  but  that  you  are  using 
per  cent  of  your  entire  expenditure 
for  this  purpose. 

Thi.s  might  happen:  a.  Because  of 
exorbitant  salaries;  b.  Because  of  a 
larger  staff  than  is  necessary  to  ren- 
der the  service  your  library  is  iving , 
c.  Because  you  are  rendering  a great- 
er service  than  is  consistent  with  your 
Income  and  your  equipment.  Let  us 
examine  these  separately  and  In  de- 
tail. .V 

A.  Tour  individual  salaries  are  not 
too  high  in  a single  Instance.  Your 
librarian  and  heads  of  departments, 
each  requiring  good  scholastic  educa- 
tion, college  graduation  or  Its  eqJiv- 
alent,  plus  professional  training  of  ne 
or  two  years,  should  be  upon  a s'  iry 
basis  equal  to  the  principals  ani'  e- 
partment  heads  of  your  high  sc'  s. ' 
If  you  will  examine  the  salary  lU  in 
both  cases  you  will  find  the  a'dva  g 

much  in  favor  of  the  high  s )o 

teachers.  Tour  assistants  should  i n! 
In  salary  with  grade  teacher.s.  T le 
do  not  so  rank. 

Many  of  your  assistants  are  pai' 
scarcely  living  salaries  if  we  can  ,a 
sume  they  are  wholly  dependent  uper 
their  income  and  we  have  no  rigb;  iV 
assume  otherwise.  It  is  not  witi  t 
the  province  of  any  public  Institutin' 
to  exact  or  to  accept  service  for 
than  fair  compensation  becar-  , 
employe  happens  to  live  “r  n 
within  the  city  of  employ  • 
some  of  your  employes  are 
more  than  they  are  recelvli 
not  the  quality  of  persons  tt.  .i  a. 
economically  employed  in  a 7 '\i 
Statistics  of  other  libraries  upo 
point  are  lacking  or  so  indefin’i 
they  can  be  used  with  but  littk  ^ 
Comparison  with  schools  is  fair, 
sure. 

Exorbitant  salaries,  then,  do  n 
plain  the  fact  of  ^oo  large  a pei 
being  given  to  salaries. 


E.  Is  it  true  that  the  staff  Is  larger 
than  Is  necessary  to  render  the  ser- 
vice that  is  given?  Upon  a statistical 
study  of  your  service  as  indier  ted  by 
the  circulation,  which  Is  tl;  sig- 
nificant single  item  in  *b'  of  a 

public  library,  I am,  c ,n\  ii  i that 
your  staff  Is  not  undeserving.  On  the 
contrary,  I find  that  your  circulation 
*per  staff  member  is  equal  to  the  best 
jB.nd  better  than  the  average.  An  ad- 
.ditlonal  evidence  upon  this  point  is  the 
fact  that  you  are  circulating  your 
books  at  a per  volume  circulation  cost 
much  lower  than  the  average,  ranging 
from  one-half  to  two-thirds  the  cost 
fofind  In  other  similar  libraries. 

' Tour  staff,  therefore,  is  not  too 
large  for  the  direct  service  you  are 
rendering  your  patrons.  We  cannot 
account  for  the  excessive  salary  total 
on  the  grounds  proposed  in  A or  B. 

C.  Are  you  rendering  a greater  Im- 
me<liate  service  to  your  patrons  than 
is  consistent  with  your  income  and 
equipment? 

It  has  been  shown  that  you  are  ren- 
dering greater  service  than  the  aver- 
age. Tour  city  is  appropriating  less 
per  capita  of  your  population  than  is 
done  in  other  similar  cities.  With 
these  two  facts  In  mind,  it  is  clear 
that  you  must  be  sacrificing  some- 
where to  accomplish  the  Immediate 
service. 

Looking  further  Into  your  distrlbu- 
\ tlon  of  expenditure,  I find  that  you 
' are  exhausting  the  most  essential 
■ equipment  of  jmur  library,  that  is, 
your  supply  of  books.  Your  library 
i.s  feeding  upon  its  own  vitals,  which,  , 
if  continued,  means  death. 

2.  Tour  expenditure  for  books, 
periodicals  and  bindings,  taken  as  a 
unit,  is  now  below  what  it  has  been,  j 
'll  and  it  is  much  below  what  Is  being 
expended  by  other  similar  libraries. 
The  average  of  expenditure  in  the 
several  libraries  studied  is  approxl-- 
mately  25  per  cent  of  the  entire  ex- 
penditure. while  in  your  library  it  Is 
only  17  per  cent  of  your  expenditure. 
Eight  per  ceirt  additional  of  your  en- 
tire outlay  should  have  gone  into  these  I 
items.  This  means  that  your  equip-  1 
nient  must  be  deteriorating,  rather  i 
rapidly.  An  additional  evidence  In  I 
this  same  line  is  the  fact  set  forth  in  | 
the  reports  of  the  department  heads i 
recently  rendered  to  your  librarian. 
These  reports  almost  uniformly  state 
that  the  book  stock  is  being  depleted 
by  discarding  worn-out  volumes  and 
by  withdrawing  many  volumes  in  peed 
of  lebinding.  Of  course,  no  institu- 
tion can  live  and  thrive  unle.ss  it 
keeps  it.s  growth  of  equipment  at 
least  a little  in  advance  of  its  service 
exhaustion. 

Here,  then,  under  C,  may  be  explatn- 


H both  facts  that  must  be  remedied, 
your  salary  total  is  too  large  rela- 
tively becausein  your  desire  for  ex- 
cellent immediate  service  to  the  pa- 
trons you  have  increased  your  staff 
numbers  and  your  total  staff  salaries 
out  of  proportion  to  your  income  and 
a corresponding  cut  had  to  be  made 
somewhere,  since  your  appropriation 
is  a fixed  sum,  and  you  have  made  It 
in  your  essential  equipment — books, 
periodical, s and  binding,  considered  as 
one  unit. 

Combining  C under  1 and  2,  my  con- 
clusion is  that  you  are  rendering  a 
I greater  immediate  service  to  your  pa- 
I trons  than  is  consistent  with  your  in- 
Icome  or  your  equipment  for  1916,  and 
I .still  more  out  of  proportion  to  what 
' is  appropriated  for  1917. 

In  short,  you  are  rendering  a great- 
er service  to  a hungry  public,  whose 
appetite  your  skill  and  devotion  have 
whetted,  than  the  public  is  willing  to 
vote  funds  to  supply.  You  are  ex- 
hausting the  library  by  overdraft  up- 
on its  ability  to  serve. 

III.  RECOMMENDATIONS 

1.  In  the  light  of  these  facts  and 
in  harmony  with  the  opinions  already 
foreshadowed,  the  only  alternative  ap- 
parent to  me  is  fb  decrease  your  sal- 
ary item  by  decreasing  the  number  of 
the  staff  and  discontinuing  all  agen- 
cies except  the  main  library  and  pos- 
sibly such  stations  as  can  be  con- 
ducted with  very  little  or  no  cost. 
And  I would  recommend  alternative  1 
or  3 as  set  forth  by  your  librarian 
in  the  series  of  six. 

2.  In  decreasing  the  number  of  per- 
sons in  your  stafi  and  reorganizing 
what  your  financial  resources  will 
justify  you  in  retaining,  I would 
recommend  that  you  select  for  reten- 
tion those  whose  general  education,  ' 
professional  preparation  and  valuable 
experience  best  fits  tjiem  for  Intelli- 
gent and  growing  service  to  the  pub- 
lic in  a library  capacity,  and  their 
number  must  be  determined  by  the 
proportion  of  your  funds  you  can  de- 
vote to  salaries  apportioned  in  reason- 
able salaries  measured  by  your  best 
equipped  persons,  not  by  the  work 
that  you  would  like  to  do  for  your 
people  nor  by  their  needs.  I am  sure 
this  recommendation,  if  followed,  will 
ultimately  give  your  citizens  the  best 
.service  that  your  money  can  secure  for 
them.  I hesitate  to  make  any  recom- 
mendation that  will  make  necessary 
the  removal  of  any  person  from  a po- 
sition, but.  considering  the  \iltimate 
good  of  the  institution  which  means 
the  good  of  all  your  citizens,  I can 
see  no  alternative,  and  certainly  no 
individual  Interest  must  stand  against 
the  interest  of  all. 


3.  I Would  recommend  that  yot 
make  reasonable  increases  in  the  sal- 
aries of  those  whom  you  retain  ap- 
proximately as  you  estimated  in  your 
proposed  1917  budgret,  or  better.  Let 
your  people  understand  that  a ibrary 
staff  is  not  merely  a g-roup  of  work- 
ers, but  that  most  of  them  are  im-: 
portant  guides,  directors,  advisers  in| 
the  educational  wonc  of  your  city  in' 
phases  of  education  in  •m  m/  ways, 
more  important  than  the  '/r.-k  done 
by  the  teachers  in  the  sch(  s. 

Young  girls  with  little  .-cholastici 
education,  little  or  no  pi  essional 
training  and  no  backgro  md  of  cul- 
ture from  reading  or  travel,  are  of 
little  use  in  a library.  In  tact,  they 
. cannot  be  economically  used,  except 
^in  a few  instances  where  merely 
clerical  service  Is  demanded,  and  that 
type  of  service  is  not  largo  in  a li- 
brary of  the  size  now  being  consider- 
ed, but  grows  more  rapidly  in  larger 
libraries. 

4.  As  to  the  internal  organization 
of  the  staff,  when  the  number  and 
personnel  of  the  revised  staff  is  fixed 
upon,  I can  make  no  recommendation. 

The  judgment  of  the  librarian  and 
the  heads  of  departments  must  deter- 
mine that  in  the  light  of  such  ex- 
perimenting as  may  be  necessary  with 
persons  you  select  and  tht  work  which 
must  be  performed.  This  adjustment 
will  be  guided  in  part  by  seasons,  in 
part  by  emergencle.s  ■nd  in  part  by 
many  tested  Judgmem  . The  admln- 
! istrative  ffiehibers  u’  Lhe  staff 
I can  make  these  adj.  stments. 

6.  I would  further  recommend  that 
you  begin  at  once  with  the  new  year 
devoting  a reasonable  portion  of  your 
funds  to  bringing  up  your  rebinding, 
to  doing  what  binding  of  periodicals 
is  needed,  and  to  'c  lenishlng  your 
book  supply.  In  the  ring  year  you 
should  not  only  expo  1 the  normal 
proportions  In  these  x nes,  but  you 
must  expend  In  advance  of  the  normal 
what  will  replace  the  exhausted  stocli. 


When  larger  funds  come  to  you,  as 
they  doubtless  will,  you  will  find  little 
or  no  trouble  making  up  a good  staff 
in  a few  weeks  or  months,  but  to  build' 
up  a book  collection  requires  much 
time  and  continued  care. 

6.  As  a suggestive  guide  for  the 
apportionment  of  funds  which,  by  th' 
way,  can  not  bo  absolutely  followed, 

I would  suggest  the  following:  ^ 

1.  For  salaries,  from  4.5  per  cent  to] 
50  per  cent  of  your  available  funds. 

2.  For  books,  periodicals,  bindlngl 
and  rebinding,  from  20  per  cent  to  2 1 
per  cent  of  your  entire  available  funds, 
giving  binding  and  rebinding  the  rlgh< 
of  way,  and  to  book  purchases  wha 
may  then'  be  available. 

Respectfully  submitted, 
(Signed)  W.  E.  HENRY. 

November  21,  191G. 

Though  the  report  advocates  plan 
1 or  3,  the  board  adopted  plan  4,  in- 
volving practically  the  same  expend!- f 
tiire.  feeling  that  it  should  accept  Mr.  | 
H.  A.  Rhodes’  offer  of  paying  $1000  j 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  library  .sta- 
tion in  his  store,  which  he  did  with  I 
the  understanding  tliat  it  would  no’  ' 
he  regarded  as  a precedent,  but  inerc- 
ly  a.s  an  cir\cr:vency  nioa.«i!ve  fny  (lii/ 
year  1917,  This  station  circu la ty.s  anf 
nually  some  42,000  volumes  of  ih 


421,000  circulated  throughout  the  en- 
tire library  system. 

The  plan  adopted  applies  all  the 
principles  of  retrenchment  which  wars 
recommended  to  the  board.  The  sal- 
ary roll  is  reduced  9%  and  the  equip- 
ment expense  increased  4%.  Another 
year,  if  a reasonable  appropriation  is 
made,  almost  a complete  adjustment 
to  the  percentages  suggosited  should 
be  possible. 

The  board  has  under  way  a number 
of  plans  for  economy  In  the  operation 
of  the  library  aside  from  retrench- 
ment, some  of  which  are  already  in 
practice  as  a result  of  the  self-anal- 
ysis made  by  the  library  staff. 

The  retrenchment  plans  decided  on 
rlready  Include  the  elimination  duilng 
±917  of  extra  clrculattog  copies  of 
cereain  periodicals  and  of  a few  unln- 
dexed  magazines  from  tne  reference 
department  subscription  list.  Also, 
January  1,  1917,  fines  on  overdue 
books  drawn  on  adult  cards  will  be 
raised  from  one  cent  per  day  to  two 
cents  per  day,  as  is  the  practice  Ini 
most  public  libraries. 

Let  it  be  said  in  conclusion  that  no 
one  can  regret  more  than  does  thol 
ibrary  board  the  necessity  for  closing 

shlng  the  ■ervlce  we  are  rendering 

le  people  of  Tacoma.  1 1 is  a. 

a step  backward.  It  would  seem, 
owever,  from  Professor  Henry’s  re- 
rt  that  It  is  only  possible  to  keep 
our  good  service  by  increasing  the 
.ids  for  library  purposes. 

.T.  REV.  FREDERIC  W.  KEATOR. 


I 


I Crippling  the  Library 

'■j  ' 

( ' ■ e action  of  the  library  board  in  curtailing  the 

, ' service  in  this  city  and  closing  outlying  branches 

■k  have  been  expected.  The  board’s  hands  were 

• the  action  of  the  city  council  in  cutting  their 

■ i latlon  several  months  ago.  Whatever  protests 

c.  ^’om  the  inconvenience  that  outljing  districts 
s\.j;fer  sho»Od  be  directed  to  Mayor  Fawcett  and~the 

j raeijbers  of  the  council.  The  slash  in  budget  appro- 
priations was  rer.nor  dble. 

Professor  Henry  of  the  "University  of  Washington, 
' an  expert  of  note,  declares  that  the  Tacoma  library  and 
its  branches  have  been  rendering  more  service  to  the 
>eople  for  less  money  than  any  similar  library  in  the 
. country.  It  is  a matter  of  civic  regret  that  the  good 

■ work  which  the  library  has  been  doing  is  checked. 

When  the  next  budget  is  up  for  consideration  the 
sentiment  of  the  citizens  of  Tacoma  ought  to  be  so 
strongly  expressed  to  the  council  that  the  work  of  the 
library  will  be  forwarded  ai’d  not  crippled. 


T'r'j  mayor  seems  to  have  changed  his  mind  about  it.  Some  days  ^ 
agcf  '•^ked  “Of  what  use  is  a city  library  anyway?”  Now  he  i 
i in  favor  of  keeping  library  branches  open  in  South 


Tacomk  and  McKinley  Hill.  If  the  mayor  were  helpful  instead  of 
, antogonistically  critical  tnere  are  many  phases  of  Tacoma  public  h e 
I that  would  be  ever  so  much  more  valuable. 


I 


I 


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